Two men stood together in the living room of the quaint cabin that they called home. Well, at least one of them did. The other considered the various bars he frequented to be akin to home.

"See what I'm talking about? I gotta admit, I'm a little impressed about how thorough he was." Qrow motioned a hand toward the bulletin he managed to pull from the attic, the latest work of his dearest nephew.

Much of what was on the board were old writings from Summer, from before her disappearance. They'd both recognize that elegant handwriting anywhere. It's been years since she disappeared, but it was to be expected that any child who lost their mother at a young age would want to know details about the parent they never got to know.

He also had to hand it to that kid, getting that thing in and out of the attic was a real pain in the ass.

A concerned downturn of the lips came in response to his former teammate's observation, "Is that really what you should be taking away from this? He shouldn't be doing this, and you absolutely know why."

"He's also a kid who wants to learn more about his dead mom," Qrow snapped back sharply, poking his old friend in the chest with his good arm. "Y'know, something his dad should have told him about ages ago?"

A tense friction heated up in the air between the two of them as blue eyes locked with red. Yet… eventually it was Taiyang that faltered first.

"Qrow, just… I know." He quietly spoke, pinching his nose in frustration, "I feel awful about this. Yang gives me enough hell as it is."

He sighed before walking up to the board and taking a closer look at what Russet had laid out. Using a finger, he traced the various notes and their cord ties that linked them together via thumbtacks. Most of the information he already knew. Some of it was about the more theological-related writing Summer did when she got in a mood. Brothers above, he had spent more than enough time going through his wife's things after she left.

"Qrow," He mumbled, tracing one of the final tethers toward the end of what his son had put together, "Did you know she went to Mistral after leaving?"

He blinked, his red eyes sharpening in response to Taiyang's question, "Yeah, couldn't trace her beyond the wilderness on the western portion of the continent."

Taiyang turned to him, pursing his lips in thought, "You did the leg-work, but how does Russet even know to look there? She didn't say a word or even leave a note when she left."

Qrow sighed, feeling another headache coming on before reaching for his hip flask in his vest pocket.

After taking a swig, he replied, "Damned if I know, Tai. Your son's bright, and well, you'd probably have a better idea if you talked with him. Maybe get around to that, yeah?"

Tai opened his mouth in indignation, a habitual response from his daily verbal quarrels with Qrow back in their Beacon days, before deflating as if the air was drained from his lungs. "You always have to remind me of that, don't you?"

"Someone's gotta keep you honest," Qrow shrugged in response, before turning away and leaving the room behind, "Anyway, don't wait up on me. I promised Ruby to take her out to lunch to celebrate all the progress she's made in the past few days."

Tai stayed quiet, choosing to stay, and stared at the intricate investigation board with a complicated expression adorning his face.

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Ruby was humming as she skipped forward, a smile on her face as she and Uncle Qrow walked down the old dirt path to the closest restaurant. The family home was some distance from the port town that Signal was located in, but she could get there and back at a brisk walk if she didn't mind some exercise. It's a trail that she and her brother had trekked frequently together whenever their father had to stay after hours for faculty meetings at the academy.

Her mind was alight with ideas after her recent experience with her new favorite weapon of all time! The Scythe! Ruby could scarcely describe in words just how right it felt to hold that wooden scythe for the first time, and the impressed look Uncle Qrow gave her when she started swinging it around made her heart jump in joy!

"You certainly seem happy, get a boyfriend I should know about?" Uncle Qrow said all of a sudden, shocking her from her musing about her super ultra cool new scythe skills.

"What! Ew no Uncle Qrow that's gross!" Ruby said, recoiling from her Uncle who just laughed at her outburst.

After wiping a mock tear from his eye, he teased, "Trust me, kiddo, you might be saying that now, but there'll be a time when ole' Uncle Qrow is going to have to loom over your shoulder to dissuade the rabble, the dregs going after your hand."

"That is if your big sister and your brother don't beat me to it."

Ruby's pale cheeks became comically red and she shook her head profusely, the desire to hide in her cloak became immense, "Nope! We're not talking about this!"

A response that only brought more laughter from her supposed advocate and uncle. To which, Ruby could really only level a glare with little heat to it back at him. After facing that unwavering neutral smirk of his, she finally exhaled sharply and turned her head to look at the various wildflowers that dotted the trail as they closed the distance to town.

Uncle Qrow could be really annoying sometimes, but she was glad he came around when he did. It felt strange to be thankful that he broke his arm, but he'd probably already be gone on another mission if he wasn't being forced to take it easy.

"So…" Qrow began, curiosity laced in his tone, "How's your brother doing? From what I hear from your Dad, his scores at Signal are pretty high across the board. You're not doing too bad yourself, kiddo."

At the mention of Signal and grades, Ruby's peppy skips had lost some of their energy. A far more complicated look crossed her face, "Yeah, he's doing pretty good… he didn't need to take remedial combat classes."

What she left unsaid was, 'Unlike me,' though it was pretty clear that her Uncle picked up on her shift in mood. It was a tangled knot of feelings that crossed her chest that thankfully she felt was starting to lighten since Qrow put that scythe in her hands. It was like there was a heavy weight that clasped around her heart that got tighter and tighter while she saw him get better and better in combat class while she just… seemed to stay the same; that stifling feeling had finally started to lift just a teensy bit.

"Thanks, Uncle Qrow," Ruby finally muttered, breaking the awkward atmosphere that started to pervade the air between them, her voice wavering, "I-I was really starting to get worried…"

Her feet slowly found themselves coming to a stop as her stomach twisted in uncomfortable ways, her mind casted back to those brief moments where she would… It makes her feel so hopeless when she even thinks about it. And she-

Tears threatened to prickle at her eyes, "I just… I feel so useless sometimes, Uncle Qrow!"

"My combat scores are terrible, I've been stuck in remedial classes, and Russ-" A sob caught in her throat. "Russet keeps taking time away from his own training to help me. But I wasn't improving at all!"

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She sniffled, and exhaled shakily, "Not until you started teaching me to use a scythe…"

"Ruby, hey," He started to say, raising his good hand toward her, before just shaking his head with a sigh, "Come here, kiddo."

He drew her into his side and softly rubbed her back as she clutched him, the anxiety that was thrumming through her easing as he did. Her dream had been slowly inching its way out of reach, and it felt like her Uncle had tossed her a rope to drag it back. The hug lasted for a good minute or so before Uncle Qrow pulled her away and looked her seriously in the eyes.

"Kid, I know that this is something you've been dreaming about since you were a wee little brat, but can you promise me one thing?"

Ruby rubbed the last traces of lingering tears away from her eyes as she nodded silently.

"Promise me that you won't let being a Huntress be everything you live for, there's more ways to help people than fighting Grimm." He said, and although she could see the seriousness in his eyes her heart rebelled at his words.

"But.." She started to say, thoughts swirling in confusion about how you could help people better than saving them from the Grimm. Yet she couldn't seem to find it in her to voice those words, his eyes seemed to carry a sadness in them that Ruby just couldn't find it in her to deny.

"Okay, Uncle Qrow…" She said instead of what she wanted to say, and the slight curl of his lips at her response told her she had said the right answer. Even if she wasn't sure how much she believed her own words.

At her affirmation, the intensity that he gained with that odd request ebbed away, and a far more easy-going and typical playful smirk replaced his serious expression. He swung an arm around her shoulders and they continued to walk down the path together.

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Yang pressed on the accelerator and Bumblebee purred wonderfully in response. The roar of her baby filled the air in a way that satisfied her on a primal level. It was something that she had always had trouble describing to anyone else. On her bike, it was like the world started to fade away, replaced only with her, her baby, and the road. No shitty dads, no guilt about her mistakes, and no brothers who she-

"YANG!" Said little brother screamed over the sound of her bike making her jerk in surprise a little, he didn't say anything else but she got the gist of what he wanted from how he tightened around her like a viper. Little guy was a lot stronger than he looked, and so she acquiesced to his unspoken desire to slow down so at the very least she would get to keep her ribcage intact by the time they were in Vale.

She chuckled to herself as she turned into the road that ran as the central thoroughfare through the middle of Vale, her little brother was always such a worry wart. Didn't he know that he was in the safest possible place with her, and besides his sister didn't worry nearly as much as he did.

But to be fair, Ruby could also run faster than Bumblebee's top speed with her Semblance, a fact that mildly annoyed her every time she thought of it. Yang shook those thoughts from her head quickly enough however, focusing instead on the road as the two of them began to finally pull into Vale proper. A complicated mix of emotions filled her as they did, being able to go here on her own for the first time had been one of the most liberating experiences she had ever had.

She had obviously gone back again after that first time, the feeling was never quite as grand but she found other ways to enjoy Vale. With her friends from Signal by her side they conquered Vale's nightlife, almost every club in the city knew her and her friends by now, for better or worse.

Usually for the worst according to her dad, but what did he know? He spent more time in his own little world inside his office than he probably had outside at this point.

It was always one thing or another with him; he needed to grade a couple more assignments that his instructor buddies handed off to him or something stupid like that. Or, he stayed at Signal well past dinner and didn't come home until somewhere around midnight. She started wrapping plates of leftovers and putting them in the fridge after she and the twins were done eating, which he only ended up eating half the damn time anyway.

Hell, just like in her first year at Signal, he was so distant and detached to her that it got to the point that most of her classmates thought it was just a mere coincidence that they shared a surname. There were just so many stupid things that stacked together that she could get herself worked up about where it came to their dad. Now, he wanted to dictate to her like some kind of responsible parent when he was anything bu-

"YANG, PAY ATTENTION!" Russet suddenly screamed into her ear and the world came back into focus just in time for her to swerve out of the way of some drunk asshole who drove onto the wrong side of the road.

"Fucking Grimmbait!" She swore, making sure the driver got a nice view of her middle finger. Should she maybe have tried not to do that in front of her impressionable little brother? Maybe, on the other hand, Russet probably already knew every curse in the book, that would really be just like him.

"Yang, for the love of the Brothers above would you please pay more attention to the damn road?" Her brother both pleaded and proved her point in a single statement. He better not contaminate the pure well of energy that is his twin sister with that mouth.

She quite happily ignored the sheer hypocrisy that was laced with that thought.

"Yang, I swear to all that is holy, if you don't glue your eyes back onto the road, I will-" She unceremoniously cut off her brother's budding rant with yet another sharp turn around an empty street corner. She felt the death grip he had around her stomach tighten even more. It was a good thing she had her Aura unlocked.

She forced down a laugh that threatened to bubble up from the back of her throat, "C'mon Russ! When have I ever gotten into an accident on this baby?"

He was silent at her words and she decided to take that as the victory it was. The next few minutes of the ride continued in a peaceful silence, for her at least, for Russet he seemed to clench harder every time we took a corner a bit too fast. She would have tried to comfort him or go slower but she was already going at a slow cruise compared to how she normally drove.

Thankfully for her ribs and Russet's nerves, the two of them finally arrived at their destination, Vale's premier movie theater; the Laurel Cinema. The Cinema was one of the places in Vale that she loved to come to every now, and that her friends actually disliked. She wasn't sure why, to be honest, sure the place looked more than a little old-fashioned at first glance but if you looked closely you could see the clear love and attention the owners had been putting in for decades now. Probably since before she was even born!

Before the two of them had left the house earlier today Yang had decided her little brother had been spending far too much time in his room or in that dusty ass attic and not nearly enough time with her. This was her way to fix that, and well, it didn't hurt that Uncle Qrow asked her to get him out of the house for a little bit.

She didn't know why Uncle Qrow wanted him out of the house for the day and she hadn't really felt like asking either. It was as good an excuse as any to spend some time with the little guy, and maybe if she was lucky she'd be able to connect with him a bit more. Ever since she started going out to Vale and fighting with her dad… It just felt like that bond they used to share was falling apart a little.

She put those thoughts away for the moment, instead pulling into the parking lot of the Cinema and hopping off once her baby was situated safely in a handicapped zone, nice and content with the handicap tag that she pawned off from an upperclassman. Russet hopped off too of course, but she had to give him a second for his legs to stop shaking before he agreed to walk into the Cinema.

"It wasn't that bad was it?" She asked, starting to feel more than a little bad about how shaken up he looked.

"It's… it's fine, really, just adrenaline." He said shortly, and she wasn't very convinced by his words. She decided to push those thoughts off her mind though, before old guilts and fears decided to rear their ugly heads. Tonight was supposed to be fun, not all mopey because of how bad of a big sister she was!

Yang gave her little brother a soft, for her, punch to his shoulder, "Come on, Russ, the movie screen awaits! I've heard a bunch of good things so far from everyone else that's watched Dye Hard."

Russ did that weird twitch thing that he usually did when he thought nobody was looking before smiling at her, "Right, let's get into the theater and get some snacks before the seats fill up."

Yang snorted, "Oh my sweet, naive little brother, we are not buying those overpriced garbage snacks… Why do you think I wore this extra-long shirt?"

Russ raised an eyebrow at her, "Because it's like 50 degrees out here?"

Yang rolled her eyes, opening a small compartment on the back of her baby and revealing a small collection of candies and cold popcorn. With a quick glance to make sure nobody was watching she began to stuff the food under her long shirt.

"Yang, what in the name of the Brothers are you doing?" Her baby brother asked in exasperation while she hushed him, making exaggerated fervent glances around the crowded parking lot as if she was committing some kind of grand felony.

"Be quiet and keep a lookout, do you want to get caught by the fun police?!" She said, grinning when Russet snorted in amusement. Truthfully she was just glad that he was feeling better from whatever she did wrong on the ride over, she was never as good with Russet as she was with Ruby, but she could still get him to smile if she tried hard enough.

Shame they couldn't manage to convince the ticket seller that she was actually pregnant and not trying to smuggle food.